Content
- Differences between food intolerance and allergy
- How do I know if my cat has food allergies?
- Diagnosis and testing of food allergy in cats
- Treatment of food allergy in cats
- Is it possible to prevent a food allergy in cats?
Allergies arise when the immune system develops an adverse or exaggerated response to an allergen, leading to the release of high amounts of histamine. In food allergies, this immune hypersensitivity it is a consequence of the ingestion of certain foods or certain compounds in industrial feeds.
In cats, food allergy is diagnosed with some frequency and causes symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting and reddening of the skin. If your kitten exhibits these symptoms or demonstrates any change in her appearance or behavior, it is essential to go to the veterinary clinic to make a professional diagnosis and establish a treatment that suits her needs.
Therefore, in this article by PeritoAnimal, we will talk about food allergy in cats - symptoms and treatments, so you can recognize this condition early. We also inform you about the forms of treatment and whether there are viable possibilities to prevent this hypersensitive reaction in your kitten.
Differences between food intolerance and allergy
There is still some confusion between food allergies and food intolerances, but they are very different clinical pictures that require specific treatments to preserve the good health of our kittens. And it's important that pet owners know how to identify and differentiate them to provide optimal nutrition for their cats and easily identify the symptoms of any eating disorder.
The first fundamental difference is that an intolerance does not generate a hypersensitive response of the immune system. Digestive discomforts associated with intolerance are generated by the body's inability (or great difficulty) to digest certain molecules or nutrients. In many kittens, this condition can be associated with an underlying illness.
At food allergy, the immune system identifies some component of the cat's food, such as a foreign body that needs to be fought to preserve the body's balance. Therefore, it overreacts (or hypersensitive), activating a defense mechanism which includes a high release of histamine into the bloodstream.
In general, food allergy conditions are generally more complex and delicate to treat than an intolerance. When an animal is intolerant to certain foods, the simple fact of removing this component from its diet is usually effective to avoid any digestive discomfort. However, allergies require detailed analysis to recognize pathogens and establish a hypoallergenic diet tailored to the needs of each patient.
You symptoms of allergies and intolerances they also make an important difference. In general, intolerances often cause digestive discomfort and metabolic failure, and may also involve some degree of toxicity. Food allergies, in addition to gastrointestinal discomfort, also usually cause dermatological, respiratory and neurological symptoms (in more advanced cases).
How do I know if my cat has food allergies?
Food allergies are characterized by having a complex symptomatology, which includes gastrointestinal, dermatological, neurological, behavioral changes, etc. Therefore, we reaffirm the importance of taking your cat to the veterinary clinic quickly as soon as you notice any abnormality in its appearance, behavior or routine habits.
Below, we summarize the main food allergy symptoms in cats to help you stay alert and quickly identify them in your feline.
- Dermatological symptoms: the skin changes associated with food allergy are concentrated in the region of the cat's neck and face. Your skin may show redness, scaling, hair loss, scabs, and ulcers. Many kittens also develop otitis externa as a result of a food allergy.
- excessive itching: Cats with food allergies experience intense itching and tend to scratch constantly to relieve the discomfort. In some cases, the kitten may lick itself excessively, making the skin even redder.
- Gastrointestinal symptoms: the most frequent symptoms in felines are vomiting, diarrhea, colitis and irritable bowel syndrome.
- respiratory symptoms: breathing difficulties and asthma.
- neurological symptoms: Seizures can occur in more advanced cases of food allergy.
- Changes in behavior: many kittens can present hyperactivity and hyperesthesia as a consequence of a food allergy. This can cause an increase in your aggressiveness and cause changes in your usual behavior, such as a tendency to isolate or hide, be less sociable than usual, lose interest in your food or for your toys, etc.
Diagnosis and testing of food allergy in cats
When identifying any symptoms of food allergy in your cat, it will be essential go quickly to the veterinary clinic. We must keep in mind that, as long as we do not identify the allergen agent hidden in your food, the symptoms will continue to progress and harm your health. Therefore, early diagnosis is essential to minimize possible damage and provide a healthy routine for our kittens.
In principle, many foods can trigger an allergic reaction, such as eggs, dairy, soy, wheat, corn, chicken, fish, etc. Therefore, the elimination diet it will be essential to be able to see which components may be generating the hypersensitive response in your cat's body. These diets are specially designed to check (by elimination) the protein sources that may be allergens for each kitten.
At the veterinary clinic, the professional will also perform a detailed physical examination and can perform some allergy tests to check your kitten's different immune responses to possible allergens.Also, to arrive at a specific diagnosis, the veterinarian will need to have a detailed feeding history for each patient. In this way, guardians must inform the veterinarian of the complete composition of their kitten's diet.
If the feline eats a dry food, it is interesting to take the product to the clinic so that the veterinarian can analyze your ingredients. And if you change the feed periodically, it is also important to inform about the products you have already offered your kitten. On the other hand, if you usually provide homemade food to your feline, it will be important to detail all the products used in its preparation.
Treatment of food allergy in cats
After completing the diagnosis, the veterinarian can establish a hypoallergenic diet according to the needs of each feline. For cats with mild allergies, the veterinarian may recommend a hypoallergenic cat food made with low molecular weight proteins, which facilitate the digestion and assimilation of these nutrients. There are some options available on the market that are developed especially for kittens with low complexity food intolerances or allergies.
However, these products are generally not effective in treating more severe allergies, ie those in which the cat's allergy has severe symptoms. If your kitten has a more complex allergic picture, you must be patient and follow your veterinarian's recommendations.
Gradually, the professional will develop a diet compatible with your feline's body, which will offer you the essential nutrients without harming your health. In many cases, it may be more advisable to administer a homemade and natural food, which allows you to control the sources of protein and eliminate components that are harmful to your body. Thus, when establishing food for cats with food allergies, it is essential to know the food, or food allergens, in order to be able to eliminate them directly from their diet, for which the elimination diet and specific allergy tests are carried out.
Is it possible to prevent a food allergy in cats?
In fact, it is a little tricky to talk about a specific prevention for food allergies. Each cat is a unique individual and its organism has its own peculiarities, so it is difficult to predict which elements can trigger an allergic reaction in each kitten. However, we can follow some guidelines to support your digestive process and avoid exposing it to pathogens. We summarize these guidelines below:
- Offer a suitable preventive medicine to maintain your good health and strengthen your immune system, making periodic visits to the veterinarian and respecting your periodic vaccination and deworming portfolio. You can also consult your veterinarian about allergy testing for cats.
- provide a balanced diet of excellent quality. If you choose to feed dry food as the basis of your diet, remember to choose high quality products that contain high quality protein and are easy to digest. And if you choose a BARF or homemade diet, be sure to ask a veterinarian for advice to establish a diet that suits your kitten's nutritional needs.
- avoid thedifficult to digest foods and allergenic risk ingredients: some foods are difficult for our kittens to digest and can cause adverse reactions, such as cereals and their derivatives (soy, corn, wheat). On the other hand, eggs and dairy are among the main allergens, so we should avoid offering them to our felines.
If you notice any change in your kitten's appearance or behavior, don't hesitate to go quickly to the veterinary clinic.
And since we're talking about allergies in cats, maybe this video might interest you about a very common question in tutors: are there anti-allergic cats, that is, those whose fur does not provoke reactions in people? Check out:
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.
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